


Lockdown

by The_Fangirl_Sunstorm



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Active Shooter, Gen, focused more on what may go through a person's head than the violence itself, no one gets hurt but stay safe if the scenario may be triggering for you, school shooting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23211358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fangirl_Sunstorm/pseuds/The_Fangirl_Sunstorm
Summary: Patton sat against the far wall of the classroom, hand gripping Virgil’s so tightly that both teens' knuckles were stark white. The entirety of the students’ high school English class had been huddled there for close to twenty minutes after the announcement over the intercom that there was an active shooter on the premises, instructing teachers to put their classes on lockdown mode. There had been nothing else announced since.
Relationships: Platonic LAMP/CALM
Comments: 2
Kudos: 52





	Lockdown

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: active shooter, panic, death mention (no one dies, just fear of such)
> 
> Stay safe!

The buzz of the school’s intercom barely caught the attention of the other students in 4th period English class at first, very few even looking up from their desks at the sound. Patton Hart looked up from the page he had been doodling on, waiting with a smile for someone to come on the speaker with a notice about club meetings or new policies or any number of things that happened every day at their high school. Patton had a few friends on the team of students that did the morning and afternoon announcements, and he always liked listening to them talk, though he was a bit confused as to why they would suddenly do a segment in the middle of the day.

Instead of his friends however, the gruff voice of one of the school’s administrators came on, sounding forceful and urgent. His tone immediately made Patton uneasy.

“Attention Sanders High School, There is an active shooter on the premises. This is not a drill. All classrooms must go into lockdown until further notice. I repeat, there is an active shooter on the premises, all classrooms must go into lockdown.”

The buzz of the intercom ended and whispers broke out among the students immediately. All around the room teens looked at each other first with confusion, then with dawning realization as no further announcements were made. Whispers raised to frantic buzzing and Patton locked eyes with one of his best friends, Virgil Storm, who sat several desks across the room, and saw his own panic reflected in the other boy’s wide eyes. 

_Oh God, is this really happening?_ The teen managed to think to himself, gripping his table in an attempt to stay grounded as he felt his throat start to get tight with fear.

Patton worked to control his racing thoughts as the professor, an older woman with a severe, strict face stood quickly and moved towards the classroom door. She took a ring of keys off of a nearby hook, and swiftly locked the entrance before turning back to her students, breaking any illusion that this might not be real, that it was a cruel prank or a mistake of some kind. _Oh god, this is for real. This is actually happening._ The woman’s face was grim as she addressed them. 

“Be quiet and listen.” The buzzing room fell silent after under her stern gaze. “I am going to turn the lights off and you are all going to _calmly_ get up and push in your chairs, I don’t want anyone to trip over them. Then you are going to sit in the far corner of the room. There will be absolutely no talking, you must be as quiet as possible. Do I make myself clear?” Some twenty or so heads nodded assent, and she swept her eyes across the room one more time, lips a thin line as she assessed them before flicking off the light switch. There was a sound of chairs sliding on the floor as students timidly did what they were told, making their way to the back of the classroom. 

It was too dark to make out faces clearly, but Patton moved with desperation towards where the students from the other side of the room were beginning to sit down. _I need to find Virgil._ White hot panic entered his system at the thought of having to sit through this _alone_ and Patton felt his breathing go shallow. The teen’s arms were outstretched and he stood hesitantly as most of the class began to take a seat on the floor. _Where is he? Please be here, please, please..._ A few terrible seconds passed, and Patton began to slowly sink to the ground as well, on the edge of tears and breathing raspily through his tightening throat, knowing he couldn’t stay standing any longer. Just as he sat down a hand gripped his arm tightly in the dark. The teen tensed and almost jerked away, startled by the touch, until he got a look at the dimly lit face. Patton’s whole body sagged in relief. _Virgil_. 

The emo teen’s face was clouded with thinly-veiled fear, but he was clearly just as relieved to have found Patton as the latter was to see him. Wordlessly, the two sat down together. Patton found Virgil’s hand in the dark and he gripped it tightly, needing the physical reassurance. Virgil held the other teen’s hand with just as much intensity, leaning into the other boy as they sat in wait, silently begging that they wouldn’t be found. _That they wouldn’t die._

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The minutes ticked on endlessly. After a half hour of sitting in the dark Patton could feel Virgil beginning to shake from anxiety. The two were pressed together so tightly that he could easily pick out Virgil’s unsteady breathing over the sounds of other students' sniffles and the occasional whimper, all of them attempting to keep their composure against the rising panic. A couple of the other students were crying softly, and Patton had to stifle his own sobs as he stared at the grey-tiled floor, unable to look at the door for fear that the shooter would choose that moment to discover them.

He wished more than anything that this was just a nightmare. That he would wake up, and have a normal school day. He had been planning to hang out with the rest of their friend group after school, Logan, and Roman. Now he didn’t even know if they were _alive._

With that thought Patton began to cry in earnest. A strangled gasp left his throat, and he covered his mouth with a hand to prevent further noise, tears slipping hotly against his cheeks. Virgil put an arm around the shorter boy, pulling him even tighter, other hands still clasped together like a lifeline. Patton could feel Virgil’s silent sobs too, the anxious boy shaking from tension and fear. Patton wished he could say something to the emo teen, something to comfort him from the panic attack he was clearly fighting off, but the dirty blonde wondered if he would be able to say anything around the lump in his throat even if it had been safe to speak. For now all he could do was clutch the other boy tightly, face buried in his shoulder as he prayed for the terror to end.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Logan Crofters had perhaps never been so glad to hear anything in his life than the crackle of the school's intercom. After almost an hour sitting in the dark of his advanced Biology class, the normally calm and collected teen was nearing a nervous breakdown.

“This is Officer Smith of the Police Department. The threat has been detained and officers will now be coming to assist in the evacuation of classrooms, I repeat the threat has been detained, and you may now end the lockdown.” An older man’s voice said over the school’s PA system. 

Logan looked around at his classmates, whose faces varied from relief to lingering shock and horror from the day's events. The logical teen himself was experiencing a strong mix of both. He had spent the entirety of the hour trying desperately to keep his mind off of just how afraid he was. He kept his arms wrapped tightly across his chest, occasionally tapping out breathing patterns with his fingers the way he had often done for Virgil when he got particularly anxious about something. Now, the teen allowed himself a strained breath as he took in his surroundings, tense muscles relaxing slightly at the news that they would soon be leaving the room. _That everything would soon be over._

A firm knock at the door a few minutes after the announcement made even the usually stoic Biology teacher jump. They had been sitting in silence for so long that the sound felt deafening in the still-dark room. A few students had gotten to their feet at the sound, all too eager to be escorted far away from the room, while others remained seated, as if unsure of whether to trust that the danger had truly passed. At the officer’s assurance from outside, the professor moved to open the door, allowing the policeman to enter and guide them out of the school.

Logan stood on the sidewalk beside his classmates, taking in the flashing police lights and the news van already parked on the curb, no doubt already broadcasting the event. A crowd of other students was already forming as the men in padded gear escorted more and more classes out of the building. Logan couldn’t help but scan each group as it arrived, desperate for a sign of his longtime friends; Roman, Patton, and Virgil. The temporary relief the teen had felt at his own safety began to ebb as the minutes stretched on and on without a sign of them. The group had been tight-knit since middle school and the thought that one of them might’ve been hurt in the incident made his chest feel tight and painful with fear and grief. Logan wished that he could do something, _anything at all_ besides sit there and let his feelings of helplessness continue to grow as more and more kids were released and yet his friends remained nowhere in sight. All he could do for the second time that day, was wait and pray for everything to be alright.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roman Prince could say without a doubt that today had been the longest day of his life. He had spent the hour locked in a large storage closet with the other theater students, the stage area deemed too open and exposed to hide in. The closet was pitch black except for a faint sliver of light under the door. Roman didn’t like the dark to begin with, but the fact that only a wooden door stood between him and a potentially fatal threat made him feel exposed and vulnerable, sitting there as the minutes ticked by, waiting with bated breath for fear of discovery. 

He remembered the first play he had auditioned for at this school, where he portrayed a valiant knight. At the end of the play, his character had died of glorious battle wounds, and Roman remembered causing much of the cast to laugh as he practiced dramatically swooning mid-stage. Suddenly, with the fear of actual death hanging like a physical presence in the cramped space, the memory didn’t seem very funny anymore. Instead, scenes from movies and news reports continued to flash through his mind. People torn apart by bullets and other horrible visions flooded his thoughts, and it took all of his willpower not to be overwhelmed. 

Finally getting to leave the closet was a huge relief, one which made the dramatic teen want to sing or cry or both as some of the tension left his body. As the policeman in padded gear escorted Roman and the rest of his class outside the building, the teen’s attention shifted from himself to the other students around him. Thoughts of his friends’ safety had the teen scanning the growing crowd for a sign of them, cautiously at first, and then with growing urgency as his search yielded nothing. Roman pushed his way through the other students, motions growing more frantic. _Where are they? Where are they? They have to be here, they have to!_ Roman mentally insisted to himself, throat tightening with fear as doubt began to creep in. 

A few feet away Roman saw motion as another student appeared to search the crowd as well. The student turned, and the teen caught sight of a pair of square, black glasses. Roman gave out a short cry, “Logan!”

The other teen turned at the sound, the student’s serious face melting with relief. 

“Roman!” Logan cried, both students pushing aside the crowd in a rush to reach the other’s side. Logan was not known for being very physical, but for once he wasted no time in pulling the other into a tight embrace. Roman curled his fingers in the back of Logan’s shirt, needing as much contact as possible, afraid to let go. He could hear as Logan took deep breaths, as if to steady himself. After a moment, the logical one pulled away to face the other, concern etched into his face.

“Are you alright Roman?”

“Yeah I’m okay Specs,” Roman replied, voice thick. “You?”

“I am physically unharmed, though I don’t suppose either of us are in an optimal mental state at the moment.” 

He paused, as if to collect himself before continuing. “Have you seen Patton or Virgil? My class was one of the first to leave the building but I have yet to spot either of them.”

“No, I haven’t... I guess all we can do is wait.” Roman attempted to sound casual, but his voice was not quite steady, nerves and emotions strung out from the day’s events. 

And so they waited.

A few endless minutes passed before they found what they were hoping for. Roman caught a flash of purple from across the yard, not even pausing to process the image of Virgil and Patton still clutching each other's hands before he was dragging Logan by the arm as he raced to reach them. All four collided in a desperate tangle of limbs that quickly morphed into a four person embrace. Roman was laughing and crying from relief, and he could hear the others doing much of the same as reassurances and comforting words were exchanged. There would be time for long explanations later, but for now the details could wait. All that mattered was the warmth in Roman’s chest, the warmth of safety and relief as all four students held each other.

It was going to be ok after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos, and constructive criticism are always welcome.


End file.
